Monday, May 07, 2007

Monday 05/07 A.M. Quickie:Clemens, Nash, Bonds and more Clemens

Roger Clemens is a Yankee: This is by far the biggest storyline of the day...

That Clemens is coming out of retirement, spurning the Red Sox and everyone else for his buddy Andy Pettitte and the Yankees.

That he will provide pitching stability – and stardom (after all, he is still one of the Top 5 pitchers in baseball) – to a team still under .500 but only 5.5 games out of first in the AL East.

That he made the announcement not at a tradtional press conference, but at Yankee Stadium, in front of 52,000-plus fans, in a rare populist moment for a snooty franchise and player.

That he will make $28 million for his efforts. $28 million! Now, obviously, that will be prorated, but $4.5 million a month to pitch 4-5 times is pretty eye-popping.

Will he make a difference? That's not the point today. For now, it's about the SIGNAL:

That the Yankees are still in it to win (and still ready to spend like no team in baseball history) and that the premier pitcher in the league thinks so, too.

I'm expecting a cavalcade of reactions from around the league and sports-blog universe, so this is an absolute "Tracking..."

That interesting Bonds poll: "Only" 52 percent of fans don't want to see Bonds break the all-time home run record. The stat that's making headlines is the racial divide: 74 percent of black fans want to see him do it. What does that say? I think I agree with Jayson Stark: The perception of universal outrage over Bonds by the media is, at least in part, race-driven.

Spurs beat Suns in Game 1. Was it the head-butt nose injury to Steve Nash that cost the Suns a critical Game 1 victory in San Antonio in PHOENIX? Perhaps, but more telling about the Suns' chances in this series is that the combined score was 217 points, more in Phoenix's comfort zone than San Antonio's no matter what the result.

(Cavs beat Nets in Game 1: How intriguing that the least interesting of the NBA playoff semifinal series includes LeBron? Confirms the NBA has undergone a shift from a "star" system to a "system" system.)

NBA Tonight: Warriors Mania resumes! Who else is curious to see if the Warriors' first-round magic extends into the second round against the Jazz? Or was the Mavs' upset driven more by emotion than anything else? (Plus: Look for another Bulls beat-down in Detroit.)

What next for T-Mac: Is he the NBA's most tragic figure or just a loser?

Hancock Update: Cards to ban alcohol from the clubhouse, but I don't expect that to start a trend around MLB.

Mayweather beats De La Hoya: When boxing matches are decided by split decisions, they resemble figure skating more than anything else. (Will there be a rematch? Fighters say "no"; Economic say "yes.")

147 comments:

Hey, at least the NHL made it in to the Quickie this morning....Red Wings vs. Sharks, Game 6 tonight. Sharks looked deflated after the goalie mishap in the 2nd period on Saturday. Red Wings need to win tonight, because their defensemen are dropping like flies....

Hope Roger remember that there is not cushy easy to pitch to line ups in the AL East but we all know what roger is about now. He is not about winning championships, he is all about Money and in the end the Yankees needed him the most and paid him the most.

Just one question though how is a 6 inning starter going to help a yankees bullpen that is going to be toast by August.

I'm sick of the Clemens talk already and it has been just one day. One thing I'd like to point out is that he was not that good his last year in the AL with the Yankees. I wouldn't expect him to pitch as well with them as he did these last few years for the Astros. There is no way he is the best player in baseball even though he is being paid like he is.

Even though Dan doesn't think the Cavs-Nets series is interesting, it is to me. The Nets pose a problem to the Cavs with Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson. The Cavs are going to need to continue with the offensive rebounding that won them game 1. Detroit exposed the fact that Chicago had no post prescence on offense as well.

Can't fault the Yankees for throwing the money at Clemens, they needed to do something. I still don't think its enough for them to win the WS though.

I find that poll interesting that 74% of black fans want to see him do it. Do those fans know that Aaron is also black and did it without steriods? The fact that Aaron is also black takes the whole "I just want a black guy to hold it" arguement right out. And if that's the reasoning, they damn we have a long way to go.

And the NBA hasn't gone to a "system" system yet, its still a star system. Duncan and Parker vs Nash and Amare. Kidd and Vince vs LeBron. Chicago-Detriot is can the Baby Bulls knock off the vetern Pistons. Utah-GS is the NBA's worst nightmare, no stars to market.

1. Many will grumble that the Yankees went out and bought Clemens. There wasn't any outrage last year when the Astros did the same thing. And there was no outrage when Boston put up a $50MM posting fee for Matsuzaka. But the Yanks deserve some of it for their history of these things.

2. Is he really going to help them that much? He's 45, won't pitch for about a month or so, and then will probably only go 5 or 6 innings per start.

All in all, a big splash but I don't think it upsets the balance of power in the AL too much.

I'd say there was outrage with the Red Sox paying so much to negotiate with Matsuzaka. I'd venture to say other than the fans of Boston and NY, everyone else is sick of only hearing about those 2 teams constantly every year. I know they've been rivals for a lot of years, but where was all the talk of the rivalry in the late 80s early 90s when both teams stunk? You didn't really hear much about the rivalry until the year Aaron Boone sent the Red Sox home.

I think you are wrong about Clemens being a top 5 pitcher. That's not true at all. He is a top 5 pitcher for 6 innings for half a season. Are we forgetting that he broke down in September last year? And that was in a year when he started a month later than he will now.

As far as how much he makes...He will make aboubt 21.7 million.He signed a 18.5 million minor league pro-rated deal. He will pitch about a month so thats about 1/6 of that contract and about 3.1 million. Then he will get the pro-rated version of the 28 million major league deal. He will pitch about 4 months or 2/3 of the season. That's about 18.6 million on top of the 3.1 to get the 21.7 million.

Anyone who think that the country is tired of hearing about the Yanks/Sox is not part of society. People whine about it constantly yet everyone turns on their TVs when the games come on. The rating for those games are about 4 times what they are for games that aren't Yanks/Sox.

I'm curious to see what the Sox do in the playoffs with their rotation. I think they will have Schilling, Beckett, Dice-K and they will use Wakefield/Lester as their 5th. If the Knuckleball won't fly that day, you can go get Lester. That's a hell of a luxury.

So here's a real question. Do the Red Sox say F it, and issue 21 (which has been inactive since '96) to anyone on the roster who wants it? Or do they try again NEXT year to get Clemens? What's the reasoning that Roger won't pull this stunt every year while he can, right? Now that Paul O'Neill's gone, couldn't Roger actually wear 21 again in NY if he wanted to?

Was that silly putty they were trying to seal to Nash's face? Anyway, you could definitely see the difference when he was out -- players not getting the ball in "just" the right spot.

Sabres-Senators....I'd like to see either of these teams in the finals -- cities that deserve it for sure.

I think it's funny to watch the Nash/Parker collision video. Parker goes down like he's been shot and Nash is wandering around with his face a fountain of blood. Doesn't due much for the reputation of the French. Maybe he was taking a soccer-esque dive.

I don't have a link but I'm sure it could be found. I hear the rating on ESPN radio when they mention them after the weekend though. Trust me. It isn't even close. The newest one I heard was the rating for the Lakers/Suns game 1 was the highest of the first weekend by many times because no matter how much people whine, everyone wants to see Kobe. It was over-shaddowed last week though by the Warriors/Mavs game 6 in Oakland.

What were the ratings of the Yankees/Red Sox series 10 years ago? I bet they were a lot lower before ESPN started hammering this "rivalry" down our throats. Boston wins 1 world series and all of a sudden thinks they ware equal to the Yankees. I've grown up disliking the Yankees but I think I hate the Red Sox more just because of their whiny fanbase.

I can't say that I've watched much of any Yankee/Red Sox games outside of the playoffs and even then I didn't watch the full game.

I agree with others, where is the talk of the teams like the Brewers and Indians who are playing great baseball without the need to sign guys like Clemens?

Yeah, I'm not sure Dan that Clemens is one of the top-5 pitchers in baseball anymore. That's not to say that he's not very good, (because he still is very effective), but I just wouldn't put him ahead of Santana, Peavy, Halladay, Oswalt, or Carpenter (when healthy).

That being said, it's a very smart move for the Yankees, because not only does it give them an extra healthy pitcher, but it gives them a true ace to the rotation.

I'll be curious to see how he does in the AL East. Obviously he won't do as well as he did when he was in the NL Central, (as even Tampa's lineup is better than anything in the NL Central). But I'd guess he'll do right around a 3.7 ERA, with maybe 11 wins or so, and about a 100 Ks. That sounds about right, and would be more than enough to win some games for the Yankees.

Since there's about a billion people in the Northeast, of course a Sox/Yanks game is going to generate ratings...and then the media will misinterprete them to mean that the nation wants more Boston/NY coverage.

First, the clemens thing...proof to me that he and pettite are lovers. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Second, the bonds race study. Personally, I find this a completely irresponsible and misguided piece of journalism. This study portrays that white are rooting against bonds because he is black. Perhaps the truth lies more in the fact that more black support bonds simply because he is black. Lets not forget too that he is breaking a black man's records.

This "study" if you can call it that only throws fuel onto a fire that doesnt need any misguided help with. I fully expect Al Sharpton to take this study and run with it.

I dont care if its big mac or bonds, white, black or in the middle, I will not root for a cheater to break any records.

Eh, I dunno. The stuff I am reading (I don't need to provide links to support anything I say apparently) shows that baseball ratings are up pretty much across the board. A big deal was made about the first Dice-K start against the Yankees and that got big ratings as a national game, but it wasn't like 4x higher than any other game.

I'd still take Tampa over the Brewers, but the Brewers are pretty sick. The key for them just will be to stay healthy, but I think we're finally seeing what guys like Hardy and Weeks can do when healthy, which is great to see.

But as per Red Sox/Yankees, there are probably more transplant (out of regional market) fans of those teams than any other, right? But personally, I'd rather see those games not on ESPN/Fox, if only because I despise Joe Morgan and hope that Tim McCarver finally has that debilitating stroke I've been asking Santa for Xmas for the past few years.

And as much as I hate the Yankees/Clemens, the announcement at the stadium was a nice touch.

I'd take the Cubs lineup right now over a lot of lineups. They've won 5 in a row and 9 of 10 or something like that. They're getting the timely hits from the whole lineup. Derrek Lee is hitting over .400 for crying out loud. Soriano is hitting over .360 since moving back to left field.

The Brewers also have a pretty damn good lineup. Prince Fielder is turning into one of the better hitters in the league.

You also have to respect the Cardinals lineup just for the fact they have Pujols, Rolen, and Edmonds. Rolen and Edmonds are on the decline, but they're still good. And Duncan is a rising power hitter.

Would a pro-rated salary of $28M be the highest in baseball? Doesn't A-Rod have a provision in his contract that says he has to be the highest paid player? If A-Rod is at $25M, will this give him a $3M bonus? I wonder if he was acting as Roger's agent for the deal:

You rip the NC Central - who has the best record in baseball right now? Which division are they in? Oh, and who won the World Series last year? Which division again? And, last I checked, the best hitter in the game is in the NC Central (that would be Pujols for those who aren't paying attention).

Clemens won't do as well this year because he's pitching in the AL, where he has to face a DH, and because the guy will be 45!!

A win is a win. You still have to play the games so beating the Nats does count. I also read something that the Cubs have the second highest run differential behind the Mets, so they've scored a LOT more runs than they've given up. THey are finally starting to win the 1 and 2 run games, so I have a LOT of confidence in the Cubs now.

Watched the fight. I had it 8-4 Mayweather, and that's with the 12th round going to De La Hoya. Mayweather fought his fight...hit you with a quick combo and get out of dodge. De La Hoya seemed to try to pull a Sugar Ray Leonard play and try to flurry in the last few seconds of a round, but it wasn't enough. He looked pretty frustrated by the 8th or 9th.

And the HBO crew, particularly Merchant, just hate Mayweather and LOVE Oscar, and why not, he is their meal ticket. But just to hear Emanuel Steward and Merchant being apologists for De La Hoya was sickening. He was beat. Mayweather was better.

Mayweather reminds me of Pernell Whitaker in his prime. He's just so elusive and quick. It must be absolutely maddening to fight him.

Guy, are you serious??? I'll take the Cubs rotation of Hill, Lilly, Marquis, and Zambrano over any rotation in the NL East right now. Hill, Lilly, and Marquis are all pitching great right now, and you know what Zambrano can do so you just have to wait him out. Who in the NL East has a better rotation right now?

The biggest question for the Yankees at the moment should be can we be close enough to the Red Sox and what ever team leads the wild cards for it to matter. If June 1st rolls around and they are 10 games out having Roger will not matter.

Who else thinks that Roger's 1st start will be June 1,2 or 3 at Fenway Park?

@Ben, was more making the point about the hitters in the NL Central. And I like the Brewers a lot, by far the most underrated rotation in baseball. I'm a huge Capuano fan. The pitching in the NL Central is pretty good (especially with a healthy Carpenter), so I wasn't trying to say anything about the pitching.

But top to bottom, (with the Pirates, Astros, and really the past their prime Cardinals (Pujols obviously is a beast), isn't great. The Reds hitting gets a little inflated due to their stadium, and the Cubs while dangerous, are pretty streaky hitters, right? And like I said earlier, the key for the Brew Crew will be staying healthy, as Hardy and Weeks have been fairly injury prone the past few years it seems like.

My point was simply that the hitting in the NL Central the past few years, (when Clemens was there), wasn't nearly as good as what he'll be facing in the AL East though.

Same question then. I'll still take the Cubs over any rotation in the AL East. Red Sox rotation is OK, but they have 2 HUGE question marks in Matsuzaka with a over 5.00 ERA and no good 5th starter. Yankees rotation?? Ha! Blue Jays rotation?? Didn't Halladay get pounded the other day?? Orioles rotation? Yeah, right. Devil Rays? Lets just skip them.

The Cubs certainly have some uncertainties, like can Hill and Marquis keep this up and who will be the 5th starter, but you know that Lilly will probably keep doing something close to what he is doing and Zambrano will start pitching like the ace he is.

Guy, I agree that I "think" Clemens is on steroids, but the case against Bonds is a lot more damning, because we "know" he got steroids through BALCO. If you're arguing the whole black/white thing, why Giambi doesn't get plastic syringes thrown at him, etc., might be a better place to look. But then again, Sheffield doesn't either, so I'm not sure how much race really has to do with it.

Plus, part of it is that Bonds is just an asshole, even not considering the steroids issue, right? I mean, prominent black players like Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are disassociating themselves from Bonds as much as they can, and certainly that's not a race issue.

For some people, I'm sure race is an issue, but really I think it's more just that Bonds is pretty surly in general.

Andy, if you expect Marquis to keep this up, you're living in Never-neverland, or we're right all along that the NL Central is weak. He's not a good pitcher. Rich Hill seems like the real deal, though I was skeptical given that he had such great AAA success, but was poor otherwise in the majors (pre-September). Love his curveball though. Lilly was very recently very mediocre in the AL East, so keep that in mind. Zambrano's a stud, though he'd struggle more in the AL East against more patient hitters. His K/BB ratio needs to improve, but he's still pretty sweet, and obviously would love him on my team.

The Brewers probably have the best rotation in baseball though, especially if Sheets can stay healthy. Then again, Suppan's another guy who couldn't cut it in the AL East.

But Andy, using the "didn't Halladay just get lit" argument is painfully weak. It's like saying Matt Cain isn't a great pitcher because he had a bad outing recently. Halladay is still a top 5 pitcher in baseball, easy.

Hey, the Weav only gave up 1 run through 5 innings yesterday. Hargrove left him in for the 6th with an already kind of high pitch count and he got blasted. Hargrove sucks. M's have 4 listed injuries, all to pitchers.

Why isn't anyone hammering on Jeter not being clutch? In a 15-11 game on Friday, bases loaded, he's the tying run with 2 out, and he grounds to short to end the game 0-6: the only player in the game not to get a hit. Had that been A-Rod would this blog be alive with anti-A-Rod chatter?

No one cares about Giambi taking 'roids anymore because he came clean. He took them, he admitted it, he moved on. In the end, people like honesty and Bonds has been obviously dishonest.

Guy, seriously, look at the stats. The Cubs have more pitchers in the Top 50 in ERA than the Red Sox. The Cubs have 3 starters with an ERA under 3.00 and 1 with an ERA under 2.00 and the Red Sox have 2 pitchers with an ERA under 3.00 and none under 2.00. The Cubs most well known pitcher, Zambrano, has a ERA over 5.00 but he's got a history to suggest he's not going to keep that up. The Red Sox have Matzusaka with an ERA over 5.00. He has NO history in MLB to suggest he'll do any better. The Cubs' 5th starter, Angel Guzman, gave up 1 run in 5 innings yesterday. WHile that is only one start, it is promising. The Red Sox 5th starter? Julian Tavarez. Yeah, the Cubs got rid of him. He's got an ERA over 6.00. Not good.

About Clemens on steroids, I've heard the rumors. I thought you were saying that there was something as concrete as the case against Bonds. It's pretty clear that Bonds did the juice. It's only suspected that Clemens did.

You can't compare ERA from NL to AL and clearly not to the AL EAST. Let me guess, the Cubs strike out more guys to. It doesn't have anything to do with the difference between a DH and a pitcher? Please.

Look at the actual people. Zambrano is great. So is Hill. They could cut it in the AL east. The others couldn't.

And if you don't think Dice-K will be good you don't watch enough baseball.

Halladay is a great pitcher, and he probably is Top 10 in the league, not Top 5 in my opinion, but he's also all the Blue Jays have for decent starters.

I do expect Marquis to keep this up somewhat. I don't expect him to do what he did last year. Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothchild said that he noticed something off in his mechanics, so they tweaked his mechanics, and the results have been awesome so far. I think the results can be at least pretty good(meaning under 4.00 ERA) the rest of the way.

Maybe because Bonds HAS gotten a bit of a raw deal. Is he a cheater? not according to baseball rules. Considering he's back to the 3 walks a game stage, and the way he's turning on the ball, i'd say that's a good indicator that the steroids didn't do much to help him hit homers. Is it a race thing? Of course it is. Definitely part of it, and not an insignificant part of it. I, for one, want him to break the record.

What has Dice K done to make me think he'll be good??? He's got an ERA over 5.00. Batters are hitting .327 off of him. His K/9 is pretty good, but his K/BB isn't that good. I think he'll be average at best. He just hasn't shown me anything. The Japanese pitcher on the Red Sox we should be talking about is Okajima.

From a technical perspective, Maywether deserved the W, he landed more punches at a higher percentage. De La Hoya controlled the fight and took it to Maywhether. If De La Hoya didn't press the fight, Maywether would have just stood there and got in his little tap jabs and the fight would have been terrible. De La Hoya appeared to be the better fighter - stronger and more aggressive. Maywhether played defense the whole time and only got one or two good shots in the entire fight with no flurries of punches. He never could knock out De La Hoya...

Halladay is definitely Top 5. Look at his WHIP and K/BB ratio (not to mention his GB/FB ratios). Imagine how dominant he'd be in the NL, without having to face the Sox/Yankees so much every year, plus the DH? Easily Top 5, right there with Carpenter, Peavy, and Oswalt in the tier behind Santana. Zambrano's right there too, but I really wish he'd cut down the walks.

Burnett's a pretty solid pitcher too, but past that, the Jays are in trouble. And Burnett is still walking too many hitters, and is obviously injury prone.

Anyway, I think this is a smart move for the Yankees. As they needed him more than the Red Sox or the Astros did. I would never say that the Red Sox didn't want him, but I don't think anyone could argue that the Yankees don't absolutely need him.

It's way too early to call out Matsuzaka as being a bust. Could he be a bust, sure. But I think you have to give him more time. He had a bad outing against Seattle, his control was just bad that day. But otherwise he's been solid enough, and even in his other mediocre outings, he's pitched into the 7th inning.

The thing for him that you can tell he's been having a tough time with is that the strike zone in Japan is slightly wider than it is here, so some of the calls on the outside part of the plate that he used to get as strikes are getting called balls here. But he's always demonstrated great command and control throughout his career, so it's very likely that he's just going through an adjustment period right now.

What I'd expect from Matsuzaka is an ERA around 4.00 this year, with both his walks and his K/9 ratio both declining in the near future. Varitek also needs to call more changeups against lefties, as his changeup is awesome, and I have no idea why he doesn't throw it more to lefties.

I think I have an unfair advantage watching Dice-K. It's possible. I used to pitch. I can see it. The man's arsenal is like no other. Maybe Satchel Paige threw that many pitches. But nobody else. He will get better. He will dazzle. You might need to wait to next year. But it will happen.

Re: Clemens...I think it's a good move. His presence alone will give everyone a little push. He may be a 6 inning pitcher, but I'll take that above the AAA pitcher du jour.

About Bonds: It CLEARLY isn't a race thing and people who give this any validity lose all credibility in my opinion. As mentioned, he's chasing a record held by a black man (who has himself disassociated himself from Bonds). He's getting harsh treatment because he's chasing the record. If Giambi were chasing it, he'd be given just as much flak. Also, Bonds testified that he unknowingly took steroids (which is a crock, but proves that he definitely did) and he ALSO tested positive for amphetamines last year (leaked). He's doing well this year, but who knows what "medicine" he can be on and correct me if I'm wrong, you take steroids to get bulk, but you don't lose that bulk when you stop using.

Andy don't be silly with this Ted Lily shit. Sure he can post a 2.00 ERA in the shitty National League, but what did he do when he was in the AL East? 2-6 with a 5.41 ERA against the Yanks/Sox/Rays. You may list him as a prime pitcher in the NL, but he's a .500 pitcher at best in the AL.

Andy, I can't post fast enough to respond to your steady flow of bullshit. Comparing ERA's for the Red Sox and Cubs is a complete joke. How many times have the Cubs played the Yankees this year? NONE. So how can you compare ERAs? Matsuzaka has pitched twice against the Yankees where giving up 4-5 runs in 7 innings is an accomplishment. Put any Cub starters against Yanks or Sox and they'll get their shit stomped in.

And with baseball's lack of testing for HGH, who's to say that Bonds (or anyone else) has stopped?

But as per Bonds, even if race is a factor in the way some people view him, he's certainly by no means a victim, right? I would never, ever characterize him as being unjustly a victim, due to his race. If race is a factor in the way some people view him, then that's obviously unfortunate, but he's not the victim of racism that Hank Aaron was when he endured the threats that he had.

I view the Stark poll as kind of like the way there was the divide with OJ. Even though the facts in the OJ case pretty clearly showed he was guilty, the black community for the most part celebrated his innocence. I always interpreted that as being that so many blacks are wrongfully imprisoned (so disprortionately to whites that it's insane), that it was a victory when someone got off. For Bonds, I think it's just that some people are viewing him as being a victim of racism, when even if that's a factor, it's certainly less of a factor than the fact that the dude's head has it's own zip code.

I stand corrected on that point...but echo Todd's point that there is no way of knowing that Bonds isn't taking something undetectable now, and given his history this, for me, is guilty until proven innocent.

The race argument re: Bonds breaking Hank's record falls for a number of reasons.

1) [White] People are not be up in arms about it Bonds breaking the record because of his race, as the man he is overtaking is also a black man. It leads into No. 2.

2) Bonds is a jackass and not a sympathetic figure. Americans like to see people "overcome," and Hank had to overcome a great deal of real racism to get the record.

3) Steriods. Nobody wants a cloud over the all-time record. Bonds already took our single season record. He shouldn't get both of them. The majority of people would be fine if A-Rod breaks the record, and he is not white. Hell, they would have loved for Griffey to break it had he not broken down.

If he's still on it now there is no reason to believe that everyone else isn't as well and he is still 43 and the best of the best. Look at the numbers. I think most of league is on HGH. Why wouldn't you be? It's safe. It's good for you. You will be better. You will make more money.

Bonds is 43. There's as much linking him to HGH as there is anyone else and he still is the best out there.

If Griffey were coming up on Aaron's record, I would be figuring out some way to be in front of the TV every time somebody cut in for his at-bats, and it would be a HUGE deal in all of sports if he were the one getting there first. That's why I think the whole race angle is being completely overplayed here. There are people that hate Barry because of the color of his skin, but most people aren't rooting for him because he's a complete ass. Take the steroids accusation out of it and I still think people wouldn't be excited about Barry breaking the record.

BTW, did anybody watch the game last night when they showed those stupid poll numbers? Joe Morgan was foaming at the mouth so bad I had to turn the channel. By the end he was digging himself such a hole that he was barely speaking in coherent sentences.

That reminds me, Randy Wolf was definitely one of the best under the radar signings of the off-season. He really seems to be doing well with the Dodgers.

But the Mets team ERA being the best reminds us all that it's early, as there's no way John Maine can be THIS good, though I do like the Mets bullpen a lot. Omar really has done a nice job with that the past 2 years.

Roger Clemens: What a SWEET arrangement this guy's got. He should become an agent whenever he finally retires. He's making $28 million in semi-retirement and is greater demand than ever. But yes, this story will be completely overplayed to death, if it hasn't been already.

Bonds poll: Whatever. I'm black and don't want to see him break the record, but I guess I didn't get the memo. I hate to see Bonds think he's got some sort of credence for his race-whining about people being against him, but I guess ESPN needs to gin up a new angle on the story somehow. One thing I was curious about though...were the people that were polled somehow identified as baseball fans, or were they general population? I wonder if the breakdowns would be any different (i.e., black baseball fans and white fans are closer in their opinions, while blacks who don't follow the game much were more likely to "support" Barry).

Spurs/Suns: So...I guess the Magic Johnson rule got thrown out the window yesterday? I've seen people have to leave games with little scrapes, or because a little blood got on their unis...Nash was just dripping blood all over, had bled through hsi (multiple) band-aids, and was wiping the blood off his face with the jersey, but they STILL let him stay out there, and were going to let him come back in the game until he took himself out. Wow.

And I didn't understand WHY the Suns didn't take their last 20-second timeout after the missed San Antonio free-throws, when they had the ball with 20-something seconds left, were only down three, and Nash looked much better than the previous point he had been on the floor (at least his face wasn't full of blood anyway). Wouldn't you take a timeout in that situation anyway, so you can draw up the final play of regulation and go for the tie? Wouldn't you DEFINITELY take it if only to get your two-time MVP who's face you've been frantically working on back in the game for the critical final play? Instead, Pheonix runs up the court, looking somewhat confused, and misses a two-point attempt. Huh?

Confirms the NBA has undergone a shift from a "star" system to a "system" system.

ok, so Bonds is no more a cheater currently than several, perhaps dozens others. But Aaron never took anything, and there is no reason to believe that Griffey or ARod have either. I would have loved for Griffey to make a run at the record, but now ARod seems the best hope of knocking off Bonds (even though ARod is also a complete tool).

I like A-rods talent. Not him, but his game. I love Griffey. I think everyone was on the stuff at the same time Bonds was setting records. Therefore, I think the witch hunt aimed at him is crazy beacause it's only because people don't like him.

Per "it wasn't illegal to use steroids" - its against the law. There is no rule in baseball that you can't murder the opponent before the game starts, but it is illegal because the law says you can't. Just because there wasn't a statute in baseball stating you can't use steroids, it is illegal by the laws of our country and is ipso-facto illegal in baseball.

I think it's very presumptious to say that "everyone" was on PEDs. A significant percentage of players, sure; but not everyone. In my opinion, I would say that 25-30% would be a good, yet very rough estimate

look at most of his starts, and he has one inning where he completely vomits on himself, and the other 6 innings he is virtually unhittable...the 3 times I have watched him, this has happened and it looks like two different pitchers in the same game...in that one inning the guy completely misses the catcher, and all the others he has guys flailing at the ball.

The Red Sox bid tells you 2 things, they did not think they needed him. Tavarez has pitched well and Jon lester was 7-2 before the Cancer diagnoses last year and that the Yankees are desperate for pitching help.

Um Shanoff, I'm pretty sure that the Spurs didn't take Game 1 in San Antonio like you said. I distinctly remember most of the crowd cheering for the Suns when I was watching that game, which leads me to believe that the game was actually played in Phoenix.

Apparently the Sox bid was not final, as Lucchino said today they thought they'd have a few more days. But in reality, it's not that the Sox didn't need Clemens, it's that they didn't need him as much as the Yankees did, or about $6-8 million less than the Yankees did.

I know the popular thing for Red Sox fans today to say is that we don't "need" Clemens, but really there's no denying that he'd have made the team better. The reality just was that it wasn't going to happen, in that the Yankees needed him more, and would've probably gone to a prorated 30-32 million if they had needed to.

As I see Baltimore's bullpen implode this afternoon against Cleveland...

Here's what I don't get. If you send out 4, 5, 6 pitchers in each game, what are the odds that at least one of them will have an off day? If you only use 2 pitchers, you just need for 2 pitchers not to suck that day. It only takes one pitcher to pitch badly....the more pitchers you use, it's like shooting the gun in russian roulette multiple times. Eventually you're going to land on the chamber with the bullet.

Both deserving. I took a brief glance, and probably missed them due to my AL bias... I just briefly looked over the hits, RBI, and HRs, (and game context in the case of Pierzynski), but yes, Hamilton and Prince were studs.

Just to clarify, I am only against those that say race isn't an issue at all, because it is and will always be one for the foreseeable future.Bonds took steroids and admitted it. We all know guys like MacGuire and Caminiti took them, so white athletes are just as guilty of it...they just had the good sense to retire, or to have a 'bad' year and rebound (Giambi). Why do I want to see him break the record? It's not about Aaron. Most ppl don't care who has the record now, it's all about who has it next. And Bonds, imo, was the #2 player of the 90's (Griffey Jr.) and as such had the skill to be the record holder.More power to him (and if he doesn't have it, use roids).The mark won't last forever. Homeruns aren't the most important thing.

I am really big in to crazy names in general. That list was just off the top of my head.

For the record: There are three cereals. Coco Krispies which is fruity peppbles but chocolate flavored. Cookie Crisp which is basically little cookies (not sure how thats a cereal). CoCo Crisp is a cereal like KIX but chocolate flavored.

Spidey 3 - awful. I imagine Raimi directing the movie like this: "No, TObey, let's do it again and this time even *more* over the top." I loved 1 & 2, but 3 was a mixture of Spiderman, The Mask and Charlotte's Web. Craptacular.

Dan, I can just see Clemens coming out of retirement "one last time" in 2017. The $100 million contract he'll sign with the Yankees will be prorated, of course, to account for the one month he'll be able to play.

Is anyone else tired of hearing from Clemens?

Also, how does the buzz surrounding Clemens' return compare to Michael Jordan's second comeback?

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.